LOST: Lux Mundi
by Calloniel117
Summary: I was extremely inspired by the ending of LOST and by the partnership Hurley and Ben formed as the Island's #1 and #2 and so... I decided to write a fanfiction about their post-The End Island adventures. PLEASE READ & REVIEW!
1. The End's Beginning Who I Am

Hey! so this is my first official fanfiction... and I was a little nervous about actually posting it but I guess in the end I figured what was the point of writing something and then never trying to share it with more than 3 or so people? So... here you go. by the way, this absolutely is NOT slash... just so you know.

* * *

**LOST: Lux Mundi**

**Light of the World**

It was obvious that something big, something life-changing, had just occurred here on this Island in the middle of the ocean, in the middle of nothing. The Island, now a somewhat smaller place, had lost something... but it had gained something even better. The Island had indeed lost some land, some of its majestic scenery, some of its magic; the Island had also lost its old and faithful protector but it had gained a heart and a soul. It had gained Hugo Reyes who would run things in a different and better way than former Island Protector, Jacob, could have ever dreamed.

All was quiet now, the ground had stopped shaking and rumbling, rocks had stopped sliding and bumping down into them. The Light was once again shining bright from the mouth of the cave. Desmond was still out, laying on the rocks and dirt nearby. Hurley Reyes and Ben Linus were sitting in silence on the rocks, mourning their friends, thinking about what had just happened, and letting it all sink in. Their hearts were heavy for different reasons but... but it was all over. _It was over._ Or had it just begun? They had both found purpose and meaning in their lives... finally their paths were clear, they were finally beginning to understand why this Island had brought them here. The moment was bittersweet.

"So... what nex..." Hurley's hesitant question was interrupted by the roar of an airplane passing close overhead. It was visibly damaged, just barely running, it was obvious that it was the Ajira plane they had come in on. Hurley looked up at it with a tearful smile. They were safe, they were okay. He didn't know how many of his friends were on board but they were alright.

"It looks like your friends got off, Hugo." Ben, too, watched the plane go overhead until it disappeared behind the foliage. Even after it disappeared from their sight they could still hear heading away, heading home.

"Dude, they're your friends too now." Hurley's kind eyes met Ben's and he smiled - it was the first smile he had given in what felt like years. His warm, friendly smile encouraged Ben to return a thoughtful smile of his own. 'They were his friends too'. A sense of fulfillment, acceptance and peace filled Benjamin Linus at these words. There really was such a thing as redemption and, and he was on the road to it. He wasn't there yet, no, that road was a long, long road, especially for him, but he was on his way. Ben looked down at the slowly rippling creek heading into the Light, a flood of emotions spilled over him. He would become a good man. He would redeem himself from all he had done, he would wash the blood from his hands, he would become the type of man his daughter would have been proud of.

"We're going to be okay," Ben looked up at Hurley. This was the start of a new chapter for both of them... a better chapter.

The moment of silence was interrupted suddenly.

"Wait! Hold on!" Hurley's sharp exclamation broke the silence around them. He sat up straighter and stared into the jungle intently. Ben turned around and stared in the same direction Hurley was concentrating on but he saw nothing. He turned to Hurley, slightly confused. "Hey, isn't that… that's Vincent, right?" Hurley pointed and got up and jogged into the jungle yelling, "Vincent?" Through gasps of breath, "Vincent! Here, boy!"

*ruff, ruff*

The bounding and leaping form of a white Lab could barely be seen through the green jungle around them. "Vincent! Come here, boy!" But every time Hurley came near the dog he would leap away deeper into the jungle. Then the dog would stop and look back and bark again - either he was playing or he was genuinely leading Hurley somewhere. Ben was somewhat skeptical about the latter possibility.

Now alone, Ben looked down at Desmond, the man was still out - probably would be for some time so he finally decided to get up and follow. He was a ways behind the twosome's cat and mouse game and he was also paying more attention to his surroundings than Hugo was. He immediately had some sort of idea of where they were… they were still in the bamboo fields, yes, but now they were not too far from the beach - the beach where the Oceanic plane had crashed 3 years before. Ben brushed aside a bamboo bough, Hurley's yelling had suddenly dissipated. The jungle was quiet again - even Vincent's barking had died away. He advanced cautiously forward… and came to an abrupt halt. He stopped, facing Hurley's wide back. "What is it?" he asked. He couldn't see around Hugo's frame but in a moment Hurley had sunk to the ground, clinging to a ruffle of blue, his face in the folds of blue, his body trembling. Ben could now look over his shoulder: it was Jack. "Jack?" he whispered. Ben didn't have to ask, he already knew - Jack was gone. Mixed emotions flooded over him. How did he get out of the cave? Why had he come here and not to his friends? A small hint of 'it served him right' leaked through too. After all, hadn't he told Jack it was the beginning of the end way back when Jack had first contacted the freighter? And hadn't that basically truly been the beginning of the end? It was only fitting that Jack finally paid for his ignorance… and his pigheadedness. Jack should've listened to him… he was right all along. But, no, instead Jack had beat him up. But, he was forced to remind himself that he wasn't completely innocent either... nor had he always been right. He lowered his head, "I'm sorry, Hugo."

"He didn't have to die," Hurley muttered through the blue folds of Jack's shirt, "he didn't have to go. Why did he come out here? Why didn't he come to us? We could've helped him."

"Locke… that thing mortally wounded him," Ben put a faltering hand on Hurley's shoulder, "he knew he was going. He probably wanted to spare you the pain."

"But it didn't," Hurley looked up, "and... the Island _wasn't_ done with him yet." Rage and denial swept over him. He did not want this job… especially if this job couldn't even help him save his friends. And he didn't even know how to get along with Ben Linus. They were complete opposites. How did he really truly know he could trust him? And, on top of it all, they might have been able to save Jack and then Jack could've taken the job back. That was how it was suppose to be, "Jack was suppose to live."

"The Island _was_ done with him, Hugo," Ben said, "he knew and accepted that. He did what he was suppose to do. He saved us. He brought you to this point. He died at peace with himself. He died a hero." He hoped these words would comfort Hurley because, well, he was a little uncertain of what else to say. He had never been in a position like this where he had to comfort anyone before. It was completely foreign to him... even the words escaping his lips right now were foreign to him.

Hugo was silent. _"He died a hero"_. That still didn't change the fact that he didn't HAVE to die. Hurley ignored Ben's comforting words, ignored the reason that was behind them. He was not going to accept them… at least not for a while. He looked down at Jack's pale, still face - a faint smile even still showed upon his features. Hurley studied his friend, his tears mixing with Jack's blood. How was he to carry on? He didn't even know what he was protecting... what this place was... or how to take care of it. It was completely foreign to him.


	2. Even Darkness Must Pass

**Happy 4th of July! **

* * *

"We better be heading back," Ben's voice broke through Hugo's thoughts. Hurley didn't say anything in reply, he only sullenly hoisted up Jack's body, his mouth set in a thin line of determination. He went in the opposite direction of where Ben had begun leading him, which caused Ben to stop and watch him perplexedly.

"Hugo, Desmond's this way..." Ben trailed off, Hurley was already gone, stomping through the bamboo with the weight of Jack in his arms.

So, trying to fit into the follower/#2 role, Ben trailed along behind and every moment he get a better hint of where Hurley was going and what he was intending to do. Even still, following and not leading was hard and swallowing pride nursed for half his life was even harder. But, yes, here they were just as he had suspected. There, not too far away were the mounds - set aside from the rest of the camp, covered in a fine grass. Only one of these mounds was fresh, the dirt still uncovered by grass - it was Locke's. There was also a nice rectangular hole in the ground. As they walked toward it, Ben's eyes were glued on that cavity. It was suppose to be his grave… it was the one Ilana had forced him to dig only a few days before. Yes, there was even the make-shift chain she had used to keep him there. A lump grew in his throat.

"Here," Hurley said, biting his lower lip and looking around, his eyes brimming with tears. Ben looked down into the almost completed grave and nodded grimly.

"I'll get a tarp," He said, hurrying as far away from that chasm as he could. At their old beach camp, he found a tattered, aged blue tarp that had come from the Oceanic plane so long ago. He pulled it off the skeleton of one of their old shelters. Ben paused and looked around the place, the wind snapping another tarp nearby, the place had really fallen into neglect and the sand had slowly crept over everything. Ben shuffled back through the sand and out of that ghost town, heading back to Hurley. When he arrived he saw that Hurley had completed the grave with the very make-shift shovel he had used. He laid the tarp down on the ground and together they put Jack onto it and lowered him into the hole. Ben glanced up as he heard a soft sob escape from Hurley. He, himself, picked up the shovel and started refilling that hole. For Ben, each shovel-full brought a sense of relief. The hole was being filled… and he wasn't the one in it.

Hurley stood back and watched, his eyes fastened on Jack's grave but… every now and then they would wander to the others. And several times they rested on Libby's grave.

_**"And I'm scared. But then, I've been scared most of my time here anyway, except when I'm with you."**_

He remembered saying those words, kneeling at her grave, crying. And right now… he felt exactly the same way. His lower lip trembled.

Suddenly, another thought came to him. It was pulled up out of a dark recess in the "geek" part of his brain. Yes, out of the blue, a message of hope and strength came from the oddest place... from a movie:

_**"I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer."**_

It completely fit how he felt right now... and it lifted his spirits as much as possible. He could do this. Jacob had faith in him and his good friend, Jack, had faith in him.

"Hugo... Hurley," Ben was looking at him inquisitively.

"Ummm, yeah, yeah, what?" Hurley snapped out of it and looked down, Jack's body had disappeared under several feet of dirt. It was done.

"We need to be getting back to Desmond," Ben repeated now that he had gotten Hurley's attention.

"Yeah..." Hurley trailed off, wiping the moisture from his eye. He glanced around. Jack was missing something the other graves had… he was missing a cross. And a eulogy-thingy. "I'd like to say something though first…" He paused, silently looking down at the grave. Ben watched him.

"Thank you, dude," Hurley's voice broke as he addressed the ground that had swallowed his friend and leader. He tried to choke down the tears so he could finish. He kneeled on the dirt at the head of the grave. "You… you kept going because you were holding onto something… and… and you died for that… and now… it's my turn," pause, a brief moment of fear. "...it's my turn to… to let the sun shine out the clearer."

Ben's bewilderment at this speech was apparent. He stared at Hurley, not quite sure what to ask or say.

"Two Towers, dude," Hurley looked back at him, "you should watch it some time..." he trailed off, wiping the stream of tears off his cheeks.

Ben's faint smile was cock-eyed at this comment. He only nodded.

* * *

The walk back through the bamboo jungle was silent seeing as both Ben and Hurley were still trying to process everything. Finally, they found their way back to Desmond who was still out on the rocks. Hurley sat back down by the Scotsman, exhausted - both emotionally and physically. Ben opted to remain standing for a while and just surveyed the place.

Not long after, Desmond slightly moaned. Hurley scooted over to sit next to him. "I think he's finally coming around," He called back to Ben who hesitantly came over with some water. "Hey, dude, welcome back," Hurley tried to greet Desmond as cheerfully as he could.

Desmond blinked and rubbed his head with his right arm, using the other to hoist himself up somewhat. Everything was still a little fuzzy in there. He remembered Jack… and the extremely bright light. And failing. He had been wrong. "Jack… w-where is he?" He glanced around. He could only see Hurley. He peered up at him, trying to focus.

Hurley chewed on his lower lip. He couldn't bring himself to say even the three simple words that would explain it all: 'Jack is dead.'

"He's gone," Ben interjected so that Hurley wouldn't have to. Desmond's eyes fell on Linus. Immediately, he thought of that day not too long ago at the dock… the day when Ben had shot him and tried to murder his wife and son. Before he had been passive because, well, he had thought that none of this really mattered because that Light… whatever it was… would make things okay and that other place Widmore had forced him into would make things the way they should be… but… but apparently that wasn't so. He was still here; they were all apparently still here. And his frustration and anger was evident. Ben seemed surprisingly apprehensive and remorseful under Desmond's gaze. Des' head was still swimming, though, so he leaned back down and took a deep, shaky breath.

Hurley noticed the growing tension between the two. He looked over at Ben who was quietly staring at the ground, then he looked at Desmond who was staring into the sky. He was too timid to ask what was going on so he decided to change the subject. "Hey, dude, we'll… we'll get you home," he put a reassuring hand on Desmond's shoulder.

* * *

Nighttime was quickly descending on the three-some. The jungle around them was quiet. No more would they be haunted by the sounds of the Smoke Monster… although the memory of those sounds would still haunt them for months to come. Ben had lit a fire with one of the few remaining matches they had with them. Desmond, still feeling a bit out of it, was gazing into the flickering flames. What had he seen then during Widmore's "experiment"? If that Light wasn't how they got there… then how did they get there? He looked up and saw Ben and Hurley solemnly looking into the fire too. Where were they going from here?

"Where are the others?" He finally asked.

"Gone," Hurley replied. "They got off," He quickly added as he looked over at Desmond with a sad smile.

"Ford and Austin," Ben piped up at length, "they took your boat, Desmond, The Elizabeth to Hydra Island to get on the plane. I'm sure we'll still be able to find it." Ben implied that he would be able to go home that way. Desmond just glared him down. Finally, the words that had been slowly bottling up in him (and that would have been a million times easier to have Sun tell Desmond) came out. "I'm not proud of what I did to you… or your wife and son," his voice wavered slightly, the thought of Desmond's little boy made him think of his long lost Alex again. "I was so… angry…" Ben's attempt at an apology faded away; he looked at Desmond with his big, intent eyes. It seemed as though he had been apologizing a lot lately… which was by no means easy.

Desmond was rigid and silent, unsure if he could ever forgive Benjamin Linus of what he had done or what he had almost done just because he was on some wild revenge kick toward Penny's estranged father. He shook his head, not believing what was about to come out of his mouth. "Sure," He murmured. He looked down into the fire again and poked at it with a stick, making it clear he didn't want to go into it any more. Did he truly forgive Ben right there? Well, forgiveness sometimes took time - at least true forgiveness did. He himself had done some things, even things to Penny back in the day, that he wasn't proud of. She had thankfully given him a second chance. And if he could just get out of this, this nightmare for good then… then he could happily _try_ to forgive anyone... even Linus.

Each man then sank into his own silence; it would be a lie to say that none of them were thinking sad, heartbroken thoughts. After an awkward moment or two, the air was still filled with some friction. Hurley looked between the two and suddenly wished he could be with his still living friends now… wherever they were. He rubbed at his moist cheek again even though that didn't make the feeling in his heart rub away. He decided to roll down onto the ground and lay there, gazing up at the sky, hoping Desmond and Ben would let things go. Little sleep would come to any of them tonight, he was sure, but that didn't mean it wasn't worth trying… who knew what the future held, they might need all the rest they could get.


	3. The Road Home

The soft colors of the morning sun were just brushing the horizon when Hurley suddenly awoke from a fairly sound sleep. He blinked hard and propped himself up with one arm and glanced around their small campsite. For a moment he expected to see Jack, Kate and all the other familiar faces around him, for a moment his mind jumped back a few days. However, this moment of ignorant bliss soon faded away as his eyes only landed on Ben and Desmond. Everyone else, he was forced to sadly remember, was gone. He laid back down and stared into a sky which was slowly transforming from a midnight blue into a wonderful pale shade of azure. For a little while he just laid there as the other two slept - or at least pretended to sleep. Finally, though, his stomach let out a long, loud growl. How long had it been since his last meal, anyway? Again propping himself up, Hurley's eyes roved the clearing. There was not a morsel of food in sight. He sat up and brushed the dirt from his shirt before standing up. He rubbed his eyes with his fists and stretched a little to get the kinks out. Sleeping on the ground wasn't overly pleasant or restful… even for one who had become rather accustomed to it. To make it worse, the ground was especially hard and unforgiving here in this rocky place. Yawning, he was about to wake up the others but suddenly decided he could try to find food for himself. There had to be a mango tree or a banana tree or something nearby. Not completely awake yet, Hurley tromped off to feed the most demanding of the organs.

While Hurley wandered through the bamboo his thoughts were on little more than mangoes or some other sort of fruit that could tide him over until they were able to get their hands on something substantial. Before too long, his quest paid off… sort of. He happened to be looking up into the jungle canopy when he spied something… a tree that had some fruit! The only problem was the fruit was out of arm's reach. Hurley stood there squinting up at it, trying to figure out how to get it down without breaking his neck. He could climb up the tree but… he wasn't a very good climber and he didn't handle heights well either. He glanced around. No where in sight was there a tree with fruit lower to the ground. His eye did fall on a long stick, however. He picked it up and whacked at the branch the few mangoes were attached to. _Thwack. _again he hit at the branch, hoping to break it and reap the rewards. His hopes were disappointed however. The mango tree refused to cooperate and continued to cling to its fruit. "Come on," Hurley yelled up at it, hitting it again. "I'm starving down here." he hit at it again but the stubborn tree retained its fruit. He stopped hitting it with his stick and took a step back and surveyed the situation. He frowned and furrowed his brow as he tried to figure out how to get breakfast.

* * *

Hugo Reyes, Mango Tree Conqueror, finally returned to the small group. He was a little dirtier then when he had left them… but he had food. "Hey, dudes, wake up! I got some breakfast." he triumphantly held up half a dozen or so mangoes which were threatening to spill out of his arms at any moment. How had he gotten them? He wasn't sayin'. But he got 'em and after having eaten a few he felt refreshed.

Desmond slowly sat up, pushing is brown hair away from his eyes. He felt better than he had yesterday but he still felt a little off, a little woozy. "Thank you, brotha," he said as Hugo tossed him a mango. He slowly began to eat it.

Ben also pushed himself up and accepted Hurley's breakfast. It wasn't much - especially when they had gone so long without eating - but, hey, it was something.

They were a sad-looking little group as they sat eating their breakfast. Each of them hadn't properly bathed in days and each of them still looked tired and worn.

"So," Desmond broke the silence as he addressed Hurley who plopped down beside him, "how far is it to my boat?"

Hurley looked over at Ben. He didn't have any clue.

"About a day's walk," Ben filled in for Hurley. Desmond said nothing in reply.

After a few more minutes of silent sitting, Des had finished his mango and took a long drink of some water. "We should head out soon then, aye?" it came out as more of a command than a question. He bent down over the creek to fill up his water bottle. He was anxious to get away from this Island… he just hoped that it would work. Last time he had tried to leave on his boat he had ended up circling the Island over and over again until Jack and the rest had pulled him back onshore.

"Sure," Hurley remained sitting, however, with the last mango in his hand. A day's journey sounded exhausting to him.

Ben had finished his fruit and so he started packing up the few things they had left. Kneeling on the ground, he shoved their supplies into the very few bags and/or backpacks they had. They couldn't keep doing this, he thought as he picked up and looked over a worn, overused Oceanic Airlines water bottle. They were going to have to make a permanent camp somewhere. Re-inhabit the Dharma barracks maybe? He shoved the bottle into the bag. As he did so, his eyes fell on a wrapped rectangular box at the very bottom of his bag. He looked at it for only a few seconds before quickly covering it up with more supplies. He closed his bag and stood up, slinging it over his shoulder. He looked over at the other two; Desmond was visibly ready to go.

Ben bent down and offered his hand to Hurley to help the other man up. He accepted it and hoisted himself up with Ben's help.

"Let's do this thing," Hurley mumbled as they started off with Ben leading the way.

Before they were too far away, Hurley glanced back one last time. The now empty clearing was quickly disappearing from sight behind the foliage. He could just barely make out the bright light coming from the mouth of the cave and then… it was gone. Out of sight. He slowed down a little, still looking back almost as if he was willing it to reappear… and maybe willing one of his old friends to reappear with it. Wait! It was gone in a flickering instant but Hurley almost could have sworn he HAD seen something back there. He stared but was distracted when he almost tripped over a loose rock. When he looked back up there was nothing. He turned around and jogged a short ways to catch up to Desmond and Ben but all the while he was trying to figure out what he had seen... if it had been anything.

* * *

Ben blazed the trail as he led them through the jungle towards the spot where hopefully there would be something that could take them to Hydra Island. Ben seemed pretty certain there would be something there… Hurley and Desmond were a little less sure. They let him continue to lead while they walked abreast not too far behind.

"Look, I don't know why only you two stayed," Desmond eyed Ben's back as he addressed Hurley in a lowered voice, "but don't trust him." he looked over at Hurley earnestly.

"I think he's different now," Hurley wanted to believe the best in everyone. And Ben HAD seemed to change… at least a little.

Desmond's snort indicated he was less than certain, "he tried to murder Penny… _and my son_."

"Well…" Hurley was quiet. He looked ahead at Ben, uncertain of what he should think or say. He did know, of course, that Ben had done some bad things… some _really_ bad things. But… didn't everyone deserve a second chance?

"Why don't you leave with me?" Desmond proposed. The question had been lurking in the back of his mind anyway. Why would Hurley want to stay anyway? "I can help you find your friends again."

"No," To Desmond's surprise, Hurley rejected the offer.

"No?" He asked.

"We… I can't leave here, dude," Hurley looked down at the leaf he had been playing with almost as if he felt guilty over not leaving.

Desmond looked incredulously at him. What was that suppose to mean?

"I mean," Hurley continued, "We're… Ben and me… we're… the protectors now."

"Protectors… of _what_?" Desmond asked in disbelief. This was a darned rock in the middle of nothing but ocean for heaven's sake.

"Jacob… this dude who used to protect the Island. Well, he made Jack the protector. Then… before Jack went down to, you know, help you… and stuff, uh, he made me the protector. I guess." He twirled the leaf into a cylinder between his hands.

Desmond raised his eyebrows and studied Hurley.

"I know it sounds kinda crazy… but… you know, everything to do with this place does. And…" Hurley pursed his lips as he thought about it, "you know, I didn't like the idea first at all. It scared me. But now… it almost feels right."

Desmond was quiet. He wasn't quite sure how to reply to that. What he had seen down in that cave, the Light and that giant stone, it had felt… special. He would admit that. What he had seen and felt the past several days had felt special. But not special enough to require a guardian. Especially not now, now that he knew none of it helped him get to that perfect "other side", now that he knew it had all just been a mirage. He mused over Hurley's words before saying, "I still wouldn't trust him, brotha." he jerked his head towards Linus.

Hurley, too, looked ahead at Ben. A new-found fear grew into a lump in his throat. Perhaps he shouldn't have so easily accepted Ben's offer of help… perhaps he never should have even asked Ben for his help.

Ahead, a small smile had been on Ben's face as this conversation took place. It quickly faded, though, and his eyes went to the ground before him. Yes, of course he had listened in on their conversation. He was Benjamin Linus, after all, he knew and heard everything.

* * *

After a few more silent minutes of trekking through the jungle, Desmond, Ben and Hurley were in single file order. Ben was in the lead and Hurley was in the rear with Desmond in-between. Des was the first to bring up another new subject, one which was currently dearest to his heart: getting away from here. Whether Hurley and/or Linus thought they had to stay or not didn't really matter in the long run… he knew HE had to leave here. It was only a boulevard of heartache for him anymore. His real, living dream was far away from here and he needed to be with it now.

"So tell me," He began, pushing aside the low bough of a tree, "if I remember right the last time I tried to sail away from this place I was stuck sailing in circles for days. What makes you think it will be any different this time?"

"Because it will," came Ben's dry reply. Obviously he certainly did know something.

"Really?" Desmond questioned skeptically.

Ben looked back at Desmond and Hurley and nodded his head in his serious BenLinus-like way.

* * *

"Hey, look, can we stop and rest?" Hurley panted. They had been walking for several hours now and he felt like dying. Sure, he had become more used to walking lately but now that it wasn't as urgent… well, did they really have to go like a Smoke Monster was literally chasing them?

Ben slowed and stopped. Desmond reluctantly complied and they rested and took long refreshing drinks of lukewarm water.

Hurley plopped down on a freshly fallen tree trunk, taking a load off his feet. He pushed his dark, curly hair away from his flushed face. It felt good to sit and rest for a while.

"How far away are we now?" He asked while peering up at Ben.

Ben glanced around, trying to identify roughly where they were. How he could tell was lost on Hurley… the jungle around them looked the same as it had an hour ago.

"Never mind, man. I don't want to know." He interrupted before Ben could reply with a depressingly long time. He pulled himself up again, "let's go." He didn't want to get too comfortable.

* * *

Noon passed and slowly overhead the sun started lowering down towards the western horizon… or what should be the western horizon. On this Island it was a little difficult to tell.

"Hey, wait," Hurley yelled to the front. The single file line had become spaced out quite a bit. Ben and Desmond were a ways in front of him now. "Hold up." he picked up his pace and panted up to them as they stopped and waited for him. "You here that? It sounds like water!" He grinned.

"Yes, Hugo, we're close," Ben replied. That caused all of them to pick up the pace until…

There it was. A beach and an ocean view had never looked so beautiful to two out of the three of them. There, opposite where they stood and across several miles of water stood Hydra Island.

"Ummm, dudes," Hurley stopped short as they came out onto the disintegrated beach. He pointed towards where Hydra Island was… or where what remained of it was.

Ben and Desmond looked over at each other. Obviously the massive earthquakes had affected the smaller island even more than they had affected the main one.

Hydra Island was still standing, yes, but it had changed. It almost looked as if a giant had taken his hand and squashed it down into the water a ways. On the once majestic hillsides some of the lush green trees had been ripped out by landslides. This gave the hills dark, dirty brown blots inside the remaining greenery. The beach of the smaller island appeared to be all but gone… meaning the dock was probably gone too. The whole coast of the island had tumbled down into the ocean. Who knew what other kinds of fate the little piece of land had succumbed to yesterday.

"Do you think… it's still there…?" Hurley looked over at the other two.

"I dunno," Ben replied, "let's find out." He went over the edge of the woods and began clearing away something. Before long it became apparent that he was uncovering and pulling out a small canoe boat. Its sail was now ragged, damaged and basically useless but it still had two good oars inside which it would work just fine. As Desmond and Hurley came over, Ben scrutinized the small vessel. It had been his daughter's; it had been Alex's.

"Whoa, where'd this come from?" Hurley asked as he took in the sight, "is it, like, you know, safe?"

Ben's fingers brushed the bow of the canoe as he let his thoughts dwell on Alex. "Yes," he said simply. A strange feeling close to heartbreak swept over him but he shoved it away almost as quickly as it surfaced.

Hurley frowned, "okay…"

With Desmond's help, Ben shoved the little boat off the shore and they hopped inside and began rowing it towards what remained of Hydra Island.


End file.
